Author transcript
Hello and welcome to UC today. My name is Christopher Kerry and today I'm joined by Eric Hansen, CMO at Mel.
0:1616 secondsOrganizations are investing heavily in communication tools and AI. Yet some workers say these tools still aren't fit for purpose. Today we're diving into
0:2525 secondsMel's state of workforce communications report to find out what's really going on and what needs to change. Eric, uh,
0:3232 secondsgreat to have you with us today. How are you?
0:3434 secondsUh, doing really well. Uh, great to see you, Chris.
0:3838 secondsSo, I mean, diving right into it, looking at the state of workforce communications report, it surveyed 2,000
0:4545 secondspeople across five markets. What was the single finding that surprised you the most?
0:5151 secondsWell, I I think just for a little clarity on the report itself, you know, so often these reports focus just on it.
0:5858 secondsAnd I think one of the problems we were really trying to solve is to really check the pulse of the market beyond that IT perspective or even the
1:061 minute, 6 secondsknowledge uh worker specific perspective. So um of those t 2,000 surveyed uh 607 were you know IT
1:151 minute, 15 secondsdecision makers which really represent you know that person in an organization or a group of people in an organization that uh you're always looking for to
1:241 minute, 24 secondseither get advice on you know something that's broken or that the CFO is going to and wondering why certain budgets are
1:321 minute, 32 secondsrunning uh running hot uh you know and and more and more this is also the group of people that uh are being asked to to
1:401 minute, 40 secondsdrive AI strategy or at least lead those projects. Um and in some cases they don't necessarily have that experience which I think that in and of itself is
1:481 minute, 48 secondsinteresting. Um you know the second really uh you know uh primary group that was uh that participated we had 778 desk
1:581 minute, 58 secondsworkers. So these are really knowledge workers. um you know that group which potentially uh is one of the most impacted both in a positive sort of
2:062 minutes, 6 secondsproductivity way by AI uh and in potentially in terms of streamlining the workforce um which is obviously been a hot topic and and covered in the media
2:152 minutes, 15 secondsquite a bit. And then of course the third group which I think personally is is the most interesting uh is the 617 uh
2:222 minutes, 22 secondsfrontline workers. So this represents everybody from those field workers uh factory workers on the floor, nurses that are uh managing in hospital care or
2:312 minutes, 31 secondsout of uh hospital care. Um you know those frontline workers really in my opinion are the primary interface for
2:392 minutes, 39 secondsthose that a given company serves you know whether it's a customer or a patient and the healthcare example. So um so I think the perspectives that were
2:472 minutes, 47 secondscaptured uh really amplified what we're seeing in the market and and in the prioritization by a lot of organizations out there as they're thinking about the future of their communications.
2:572 minutes, 57 secondsIt's an interesting point and I mean looking at some of the stats it's so 93% of IT leaders said communication tools
3:063 minutes, 6 secondsare essential to daily operations yet only 34% of workers say those tools are highly effective. How do you explain that disconnect?
3:163 minutes, 16 secondsWell, I think I think so often uh you you know we always when in my previous days in product management, you always
3:243 minutes, 24 secondssort of start with the problem you're solving and work backwards from there.
3:283 minutes, 28 secondsWhat is the user experience that's required? And I think so often in our industry um and actually in every technology category, we get so excited
3:363 minutes, 36 secondsabout the technology that we forget at the end of the day the technology is supposed to be applied to a real business need or a problem to be solved.
3:443 minutes, 44 secondsAnd we sometimes don't do the best job of interfacing with the actual person impacted. Um and so in the case of communications, I think for a long time it's been largely a one-sizefits-all.
3:563 minutes, 56 secondsAnd probably I think we could all argue especially since co uh largely biased towards the knowledge worker and towards video first
4:044 minutes, 4 secondsexperiences, meeting first experiences and that really just doesn't address the needs of these frontliners. Um when you think about the requirements or the
4:134 minutes, 13 secondsimmediiacy required for their j job um you know I'm fresh off of a trip to to France where we met with uh partners and we had a customer panel and I'll just
4:214 minutes, 21 secondsgive you a real world example. one of the largest retailers uh in France who's a customer of Mel uh did a survey of
4:294 minutes, 29 secondstheir customers uh because they are also you know almost like a wholesaler where they're interfacing with local retailers
4:354 minutes, 35 secondsand so forth and they actually surveyed their customers and said what is the primary communication modality that you
4:434 minutes, 43 secondsprefer and 90% indicated voice first and yet we've we we think that everything is about what we're doing right now doing a
4:514 minutes, 51 secondspodcast or a video conference conference uh type of experience, but that really doesn't necessarily mean that that's the best experience for the 80% of the
4:594 minutes, 59 secondsworkforce that sits on the front lines, right? And so I think that that's where you get that disconnect and that's where we see the tension in the market. And
5:065 minutes, 6 secondsthat's one of the things that I think that the survey really did a good job of teasing out. the majority of of workers
5:135 minutes, 13 secondsuh in in the survey indicated I think it was like 53% indicated that the communication tools
5:215 minutes, 21 secondsthat their their companies provide are not fit for purpose and they have to work around that number jumps to I think
5:285 minutes, 28 secondsit was over 70% when you talk about frontline workers and so again that's where that tension I think is really
5:365 minutes, 36 secondsamplified um and the problem with that is is that that is when you think about mission critical situations or you think
5:435 minutes, 43 secondsabout customer experience or you think about um the byproduct of that if they're working around which is the reemergence of shadow IT that creates
5:525 minutes, 52 secondsexposure especially in more regulated industries right and so I think that that's that's the thing that came out in the survey to me that's probably one of
6:006 minutesthe things that as I've been talking with more CIOS and sharing some of the data and giving them access to the report and the data specific to their
6:076 minutes, 7 secondscountry um they're scratching their heads and saying Okay, we've got to do a better job of really thinking about holistically what is the business need
6:166 minutes, 16 secondsfor the constituent we're we're trying to design experiences for uh in order to maintain communication internally as
6:236 minutes, 23 secondswell as externally with those that we serve.
6:266 minutes, 26 secondsThat's interesting. So I mean the report found that workers are navigating an average of seven communication tools. Is
6:336 minutes, 33 secondsthe problem too many tools or the wrong tools?
6:376 minutes, 37 secondsI I think it's a combination of both, Chris. I I think in some cases, you know, one of the things that we found um is that yes, there are a lot of
6:466 minutes, 46 secondstools and some of those tools are a legacy of the past that have just been maintained for lots of different reasons. Um in some cases, it is I think
6:546 minutes, 54 secondsthe sort of residual effect of of uh breakdown in governance. uh you know I know that one of the things that the
7:017 minutes, 1 secondthat the survey pointed out uh was that you know the majority of of IT leaders think that they're providing um you know
7:097 minutes, 9 secondsthe right tools for their teams and and that people are adhering and that they've established the right levels of governance and and and policies u but
7:197 minutes, 19 secondsstill because of the the lack of fit for purpose that the actual end users whether they're on the front line or at a desk uh because of their feelings
7:277 minutes, 27 secondsthey're going around that they're using WhatsApp app, they're using Slack, they're using other channels of communication. Um, and that's part of what's driving that sprawl, right? And
7:357 minutes, 35 secondsagain, that creates uh some of the exposure uh you know, for those organizations. So, I think it's a combination of of their their uh
7:447 minutes, 44 secondsredundant technologies that are continuing to be maintained. Uh, and then I think it's also this reemergence of shadow IT that we're seeing and also
7:537 minutes, 53 secondsshadow AI, right, which is creating additional exposure, which I'm sure you're you're probably going to want to ask about as well. Um, but again, you
8:008 minutesknow, people using their personal accounts for all of these things versus, you know, what what the organization is trying to provide um that actually meets
8:088 minutes, 8 secondsuh the governance that they've they've established. So um I think that one of the interesting business byproducts of all of this of course is when an
8:168 minutes, 16 secondsorganization is maintaining up to let's say seven different solutions to maintain those different modes of communication. Uh think about the
8:238 minutes, 23 secondsinvestment that they're having to make not just in licensing uh but also maintaining or the personnel that is
8:308 minutes, 30 secondsneeded to deal with something as simple as moves, adds, changes and deletes uh from an account from a you know from a footprint uh perspective. um and how
8:398 minutes, 39 secondsmuch of that then becomes a barrier uh in terms of infrastructure lock relative to investing in in uh uh in new innovation or in things like AI, right?
8:518 minutes, 51 secondsThe number one I think one of the other things that we found over the last year and this survey and others uh is that the number one barrier to investing in
8:598 minutes, 59 secondsinnovation seems to be the sprawl and the locked in nature of what they have in place today. even if they're not using some of those things, the
9:089 minutes, 8 secondsredundancy and and sort of that locked in nature of infrastructure that they invested in in the past. So I think that creates a real opportunity for those organizations that can partner with
9:169 minutes, 16 secondscompanies like Mel to figure out how to streamline that and then invest appropriately for the right set of tools, the right experiences for those
9:239 minutes, 23 secondsusers uh incorporating AI. So 63% of workers feel pressured to just make it
9:309 minutes, 30 secondswork with systems not designed for their needs and that rises to 71% for frontline workers. What does this tell us?
9:399 minutes, 39 secondsSo I think um I think it tells us that uh there's a real disconnect in terms of what the organizations are providing for
9:479 minutes, 47 secondsthose uh different uh workforce profiles. Um I think uh and I think that's one of the things that we're seeing drive sort of the reemergence of
9:569 minutes, 56 secondsshadow IT. Um I think uh you know and obviously that creates a lot of uh tension as well as uh risk exposure for
10:0410 minutes, 4 secondsorganizations if they don't have tools that have been um you know blessed by the organization for use uh in the workplace whether that workplace is in a
10:1310 minutes, 13 secondsphysical location or remote uh and in the field. um you know so I think that that's one of the things that it it tells us and I think it also tells us um
10:2110 minutes, 21 secondsthat there's a real opportunity uh you know to to create better experiences that are more purpose-built or aligned
10:2910 minutes, 29 secondsuh you know deep from a communications perspective deeply embedded uh communications into business workflow um
10:3610 minutes, 36 secondsthat is specific to that user type. It's one of the reasons why recently we announced our MELWX solution. You know, again, to really
10:4410 minutes, 44 secondsprovide organizations with a a common framework, application framework that in its simplest form is a soft phone, but
10:5210 minutes, 52 secondsin its more advanced form, uh actually allows for a front liner to actually weave together the adjacent uh you know
11:0011 minutesuh both communications as well as adjacent technology experiences in a single pane of glass on the device of their choice, whether it's a mobile device, a desktop or or what have you.
11:1011 minutes, 10 secondsAnd so, um, I think that that's what it's telling us is that there's a real opportunity to create these more tailored experiences, um, you know, for the workers that are
11:1811 minutes, 18 secondsfit for purpose for what they actually do in their day job. Sort of communication that meets the point of activity, if you will.
11:2611 minutes, 26 secondsAnd that brings us on to to another area, which is um, shadow AI. I mean, the report flags that shadow AI uh, is
11:3311 minutes, 33 secondsan emerging risk with half of workers using nonapproved AI tools. How seriously should IT leaders be taking this?
11:4311 minutes, 43 secondsWell, you know, I think just to think about what the dynamics are and I think a lot of I talked to a lot of CIOS and and business leaders about this and
11:5111 minutes, 51 secondswhat's happening is people have you it's it's very similar to the early days of the internet, right? where you have
11:5911 minutes, 59 secondsthese early adopters that are interested uh in this this new emerging possibility
12:0712 minutes, 7 secondsand they're experimenting. And if their organization is not fast enough to keep up with their desire for experimentation
12:1512 minutes, 15 secondsand adoption, then you create you you create a situation and an environment just like we saw in the early days of
12:2212 minutes, 22 secondsshadow it 10 15 years ago where users are going to still experiment but they're going to go it alone. Um they're
12:3012 minutes, 30 secondsgoing to sign up for free personal accounts. They're going to uh not and not necessarily understanding the risks associated with doing so. it's very
12:3812 minutes, 38 secondsinnocently done. Um the problem is is that the exposure that that creates uh on a number of fronts uh becomes a risk
12:4512 minutes, 45 secondsfor the business. And so I think what the study pointed out was again organizations think by and large that they're providing the right level of
12:5312 minutes, 53 secondssupport for their for their employees um to actually leverage AI, but only 30% of
13:0213 minutes, 2 secondsthe employees agreed. So it's a pretty big disconnect in terms of in my opinion adoption really outpacing the ability
13:1013 minutes, 10 secondsfor an organization to support that experimentation and adoption. And again that's what um I think creates the threat surface for an organization from
13:1913 minutes, 19 secondsa security perspective. um you know if data custody and all of the topics around sovereignty are becoming more and more important especially in places like
13:2713 minutes, 27 secondsEurope uh this becomes a real uh a real issue they could even have an a mater potential material impact on a business
13:3513 minutes, 35 secondsand so I think that that's that's the thing that I think a lot of organizations are scratching their head on and and realizing they've got to solve for that
13:4313 minutes, 43 secondsand the report highlights voice as the most trusted channel in critical moments with 79% of workers under pressure.
13:5213 minutes, 52 secondsYeah. And I and I think that that gets to the example that I shared earlier around the retail experience. Right. So um you know in these and in many of
14:0114 minutes, 1 secondthese organizations especially given that the majority of the workforce 80% is on the front lines in in business
14:0814 minutes, 8 secondstoday u the immediiacy of voice is is paramount. The security associated with voice is paramount. um the performance
14:1714 minutes, 17 secondsof voice when you need to get a hold of somebody in a in a critical moment, the moments that really matter, voice is,
14:2414 minutes, 24 secondsyou know, what the what the survey points out is that voice is the first channel that they look to uh when when it's the most most critical moments. And
14:3314 minutes, 33 secondsso I think the the the important takeaway from that is that for far too long I think the perception of voice uh
14:4114 minutes, 41 secondsas a technology if you will uh is has been that it's not strategic until it doesn't work. Uh but the reality is what
14:5014 minutes, 50 secondsyou know those that organizations serve whether it's their employees whether it's their customers uh what they're saying is is that voice is the primary
14:5814 minutes, 58 secondschannel and that certainly things like video and chat complement that channel but for the most critical moments voice is the go-to and therefore it is a very
15:0715 minutes, 7 secondsstrategic channel and therefore companies really need to be thoughtful depending upon what their uh what their profile is relative to risk and appetite
15:1615 minutes, 16 secondsfor avoiding disruption and managing those types of situations. Having that control over your overall communications, but ensuring the
15:2415 minutes, 24 secondsresilience of voice to avoid the threats of disruption to your business. Um, that becomes paramount.
15:3115 minutes, 31 secondsAnd what does closing the experience gap actually look like in practice for an organization that's struggling with that right now?
15:4015 minutes, 40 secondsYeah, I think that's a great question, Chris. I think from my perspective um again you know kind of putting my old
15:4715 minutes, 47 secondsproduct management hat on you know what start with the user and work backwards from there as a as a as a vendor uh and a partner to many enterprise
15:5615 minutes, 56 secondsorganizations around the world that start with the customer and work backwards from there. It's the same philosophy. And and so I think for business leaders and for IT leaders, I
16:0516 minutes, 5 secondsthink it's being really thoughtful about what what is the what are the needs of the of the people within your
16:1216 minutes, 12 secondsorganization in order uh to deliver the best possible experience for them to drive maximize productivity. um but also
16:2016 minutes, 20 secondsin their ability to deliver uh services to those that the company serves whether it's a customer you know kind of our customer's customer if you will um or if
16:2916 minutes, 29 secondsyou're a hospital or you're in healthcare obviously ultimately the patient right and so I think um you know in those scenarios really understanding
16:3816 minutes, 38 secondswhat is the workflow what are the most critical workflows and business process that those individuals need to execute
16:4516 minutes, 45 secondsuh and then ensuring that you know communications as one of the elements of delivering uh you know their day job uh
16:5216 minutes, 52 secondsmaking sure that that's deeply embedded in that workflow and not a distraction.
16:5616 minutes, 56 secondsTechnology should sort of go away if you will. Um and and so I think that that's the critical element in closing that gap within an organization so that you're
17:0517 minutes, 5 secondstailor you have a common framework in terms of how you do it. You have a common platform or architecture that's intelligent and AI enabled so you can
17:1417 minutes, 14 secondslevel you can leverage uh emerging technologies as they come along. but delivering the needs of the day while you know kind of preparing your
17:2217 minutes, 22 secondsorganization for the opportunities of tomorrow I think is is really what it means to close that gap today.
17:2817 minutes, 28 secondsIt's a good point and if there's one thing that you wanted IT leaders uh to take away from this research what would it be?
17:3717 minutes, 37 secondsI think the the the critical element here um that this reinforces is that need whether it's communications
17:4517 minutes, 45 secondstechnology or other technologies to you know what is the business need what are your business users trying to drive in
17:5217 minutes, 52 secondsterms of an outcome and work backwards from there. Um, at the end of the day, technology is supposed to enable the
18:0018 minutesbusiness. And so, understanding that and ensuring that technology that the that your that technology follows your
18:0818 minutes, 8 secondsstrategy and the outcomes you're trying to drive versus trying to shoehorn uh your strategy around technology. Um, and
18:1618 minutes, 16 secondsI think that that's true in particular around AI. you know, for the last, I'll call it two to three years, you know, there's been a lot of hype around AI and even though most vendors can't spell it.
18:2718 minutes, 27 secondsUh, and the reality is, you know, when I go to events like the partner events that I've been at for the last, um, you know, month, uh, around the world, uh,
18:3618 minutes, 36 secondsor when I go to events like Enterprise Connect back in March, uh, of course, all the vendors are touting, you know, customer experience and AI this and AI
18:4418 minutes, 44 secondsthat in the hall. That's not the conversation. It's it's not about this emerging and exciting technology. It's about how do we make sure that we have
18:5318 minutes, 53 secondsthe right levels of control to manage the adoption of that technology so that we're actually aligning the use of that technology to business outcomes that
19:0219 minutes, 2 secondswe're governing it correctly that we're driving the right level of performance uh and resilience for the organization.
19:0819 minutes, 8 secondsSo I mean it's a little uh more foundational I think is what's happening right now. uh and and that's the critical thing that I think IT leaders
19:1619 minutes, 16 secondsneed to be thinking about and and also sharing with their peers and seeing how their peers have solved some of these problems um because no one organization
19:2419 minutes, 24 secondsthere's no silver bullet on this one. I think everybody has to learn from one another to figure out what the right mix uh and approach is for their business u
19:3219 minutes, 32 secondsagain to drive the right outcome that their board is expecting. I think that's a good place to leave it.
19:3819 minutes, 38 secondsEric uh thank you very much for your time today. If people want to find out more about this, uh, what's the best way to get in touch?
19:4419 minutes, 44 secondsYeah, you can just go to myel.com and, uh, the report is available there. Uh, and, uh, you know, hopefully everybody gets a lot of value out of the data that we're sharing through the report.
19:5519 minutes, 55 secondsThanks again, Eric. Uh, if you like this video, please give us a like and a share on social media and we'll see you next time. I've been Christopher Kerry for UC Today. Thanks for watching.
20:0420 minutes, 4 secondsThanks, Chris. Thanks, everybody.
